The Other Me
by TheFlyingGazeebo
Summary: Love is complicated at face value. Add a possessive, manipulative spirit to the mix and you've got a veritable hell-hole. /YxL HxL, part of the mankinfan/FlyingGazeebo collab/
1. Chapter 2

Tired of the thrashing, Yoh turned Lyserg around so they were face to face, so close that the warm puffs of steam mingled with each other and became one single entity. Indignant to kiss a stranger, Lyserg settled for glaring. "Who are you, and what are you trying to pull?"

The Yoh smiling back at him had a strange red glint in his eyes that was akin to a consuming flame. With a mysterious smirk, the spirit moved its host's mouth. "My name is Hao and I'm here for you."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Well. That was certainly both unexpected and unwelcomed to hear. It took all of the young Londoners' very carefully built self-control to resist the immediate and overwhelming urge to wrinkle his nose in distaste, staring up at the stranger now inhabiting Yoh's slim frame. "Sorry to say, I'm not exactly just some box you can come pick up whenever you fancy."

Despite his trying to make that a jabbing insult, the spirit only seemed amused by his response, tilting Yoh's head to one side and letting out a soft laugh that didn't fit the normally caring face in the least. Mocking, cynical; everything that wasn't Yoh summed up quite nicely in just one chortle. This only made the urge to pull away even greater, and despite his self-control, Lyserg didn't bother resisting it a second time around. Unfortunately, this 'Hao'...thing (he was reluctant to call it a human spirit) was a great deal stronger than Yoh.

Bad planning on his own part.

Struggling did absolutely no good for him at all aside from drawing another unnerving laugh from his captor, who used the opportunity to pull Lyserg's struggling form closer still. "You really think I'd spend so much time watching and not make a claim?" The cryptic words spilling forth from borrowed lips momentarily stunned the dowser into a contemplative silence. ...Wait, did that mean that this spirit had been around for a while? 'Watching' certainly implied that. Then how could he have missed the spiritual signature?

And Hao, being Hao, decided to take that prime opportunity to draw the pondering boy closer still, their lips just a breath apart. And that was about when the aforementioned boy regained his senses in an entirely too-fast manner.

...

Now, there were two things that most people learned about Lyserg Deithyl upon getting to know the Brit. One, of course, was his aversion to short-term relationships, flings, one-night stands, whatever you want to call them. The other centered around the fact that nobody in a ten-acre radius had a harder time stomaching violence than he did. Even tiny scraps going on in car parks were way more than enough to make him go off in the other direction flinching and covering his ears.

So anyone who knew anything about Lyserg would have been surprised to hear the sharp sound of hand-meeting-face echoing through the otherwise silent winterscape.

Even the greenette himself looked jarred by the action, his right hand now suspended in the frigid air after making a clean strike against his possessed boyfriend's cheek, which was already blossoming with a brilliant red. Bright green and darkened obsidian met and held, the latter blinking once-twice; and that unnatural red tint was gone.

And once again there were only two entities left with eachother for company in the dissolving-white of their backyard landscape.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Yoh reached a hand out, taking a hold of the icepack Horo offered him with a small nod of thanks before placing it against the red of his swollen cheek, a faint hiss sounding through clenched teeth. Really. Who would have guessed that such a scrawny kid with no arm strength to speak of could land such a hit? If he hadn't been the recipient of it, he'd have probably given a round of applause in utter amazement.

That, however, was not the case and so he simply settled with attempting to stop the swelling and ease some of the remaining sting.

Lyserg sat guiltily on the sofa next to him, curled up into his side in an unusual display of affection (or perhaps the Brit just felt too upset about actually having hit someone to leave him be?). They weren't alone in the small, warm 'lobby' of the Inn though.

As soon as Yoh had regained consciousness, he was baraged instantly with a huge string of apologies that appeared to have no end in sight, until the brunette had timidly piped up with the fact that his cheek was throbbing in an unpleasant way. Which, of course, brought up the entire 'what was that possession about!?' topic, which...Yoh refused to answer.

At least, until Horo and Ren had been called and asked to return to the house. The Ainu grumbled about it all the way home, much to the chagrin of the Chinese shaman. Really, who gave a damn about vandalising icee carts? It was a weird hobby anyway. Once they reached the house and saw the none-too-pretty state of Yoh's cheek though, all complaining had ceased and, in the case of Horo, laughter began.

He'd recieved a good few hits over the head from Ren after that, especially with Lyserg fretting away just a few paces behind and looking like he'd burst into tears after Horo had pointed and declared; "HE did this to you!?", laughing the entire time.

After that whole circus madness had been finished with and everyone seated in a circle in the living room, the real problem was soon to be adressed which virtually wiped any trace of humour from the situation.

They were dealing with a frequenting spirit, after all - one that not only knew how to quickly subdue Yoh, but had been watching Lyserg and, for all they knew, everyone else in the Inn for who knew how long.

Those points were brought up by Lyserg, who followed up with a contemplative look and interrogative-sounding question. "Has anyone detected any continuous presence around here...?" Ren simply shook his head, the usual bored-why-am-I-here expression in place. Horo shook his as well, before shrugging. "Eh, I didn't NOTICE anything at least?" Green eyes then darted over to the figure next to him and noted with mixed emotions that Yoh was studying a bit of pillow fluff just a little too intently.

"...Yoh...?" Obsidian raised hesitantly to acknowledge he'd heard his name before darting off to the side again. Yep, the furtiveness was definitely not a good sign. Lyserg's brow furrowed faintly whilst Horo had to fight back a laugh at the brunette's almost childish reaction.

"Yoh," the Londoner tried again, trying (and failing) to add a bit more authority to his voice. At least he managed to catch and hold the others' stare this time - who did, indeed, look like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar or something. "...Did you know Hao was here? And if that's the case, how come none of the rest of us didn't sense him...? Why didn't you tell us?" Ah, the wonder of jumping to conclusions.

"No, no, it's nothing like that..." Three sets of eyes were drawn to Yoh, who had spoken for the first time since being socked upside the head. "What do you mean, then?" The Brit shifted away from his position, taking up a seat on the opposite sofa cushion to better view the elder shaman, who obviously knew more about the whole story than they did.

But for another minute, they got nothing but a deep almost sigh-sounding breath as an answer, Yoh pulling his feet up off the floor to wrap his arms round his knees. "It's kind of a long story..." Despite his answer being muffled, the three onlookers remained just as intent as ever. Much to Yoh's disappointment.

Sighing again, a bit heavier, he raised one of his arms and raked his fingers through messy bed-head hair. "...So, you know... Remember that one time that we learned about long-term possessions?"

Even Ren looked mildly intrigued at that, arching a brow and scrutinising the tired-looking boy like he was the latest scientific wonder. "Of course. We were all sitting there with you when he told you, remember?" The he referring to none other than Yohmei, Yoh's grandfather, who took every opportunity possible to give Yoh's band of friends weird bits of trivia involving shamanism.

Yoh simply nodded. "Right, well... Wouldn't that be funny if I told you that I kind of...um. Had something like that going on? Haha! Funny, right?" His voice soared to a slightly higher pitch due to the nerves, which almost drew another laugh from Horo (managing to refrain after a death glare via Ren). Lyserg just sat where he was with a wide-eyed expression, piecing things together all too quickly. "So...all this time...?"

He was stopped from finishing the sentence when Yoh raised a hand, looking...almost stern, for once. Unusually serious, that was for sure. "Yeah. He's been here the whole time. But!-" He waved his hand again when Lyserg opened his mouth to say something else; "-now that you know that, you're going to need the rest of the story. ...Best get comfortable." Another tiny sigh escaped him, looking unusually uncomfortable for Yoh.

"This might take a while."

x-x-x-x-x

Sorry that took such a massive amount of time, been busy like something crazy as of late. I'll definitely cut down the next span between updates as much as possible.  
Look for the continuation; chapter three with Mankinfan! 


	2. Chapter 4

⌠Don▓t you try and get fresh with me, Hao. The only one I▓m ever kissing now is Yoh.■ Wretching his hand free, Lyserg scurried back to the warm and safety of the Inn.

⌠Don▓t you know pushing me away makes me want you even more?■ Hao murmured, a sick smile creeping up to light his face up.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Lyserg entered through the small wooden door-frame that lead into the relatively warm kitchen, peering around the corner in a cautious way. When it appeared as though nobody would leap out and ambush him, he let out a pent-up sigh that held some weight of relief in it, padding over to the kitchen.

The past few days had been a veritable war zone.

Not once had he managed to get Yoh alone without Hao deciding it was his God given right to barge in, usually at the most inopportune times, and destroy whatever mood had previously been there.

It had gotten to the point that the dowser daren't even talk to Yoh without someone else in the general vacinity. Otherwise, he'd be risking a pretty high chance of being molested, which was not his idea of a good time.

Picking up the kettle set on the back burner, he ran it under the tap to fill it with the frigid water from pipes still frosted over with night chill, flipping the heat on with his free hand. Nothing like a packet of unhealthy 'hot chocolate' sugar crystals to brighten the mood.

The windowsill outside was heavy with what had been just a light dusting of snow only the night before, grey clouds overhead indicating that the winter months still had much more to give that particular day.

The tap was turned off and Lyserg tilted his head towards what little potion of sky he could see through the window. Grey was such a depressing colour.

"What're you making?"

And it just got even more depressing.

Lyserg warily turned away from the counter, carefully placing the kettle against the red-hot disk, and took a deep breath. "What do you want, Hao."

The now familiar red-tinted onyx eyes peered over at him curiously, hand reaching for an apple from the fruit bowl perched on the edge of the counter as he passed. "I just told you. What're you making?"

Not in the mood at all for talking with the spirit, he turned his back again (bad move) and prodded at the handle. "Hot chocolate." "Any for me?" Feet shuffled behind him, and the Brit stiffened with an unhappy frown when he felt a pair of arms slide around his waist.

It was a shame that the teakettle was already hot, or he'd have gladly used it as a weapon. But he was fairly certain Yoh wouldn't take a hot piece of metal to the head very well, and while he certainly wouldn't mind Hao suffering a little brain-trauma, he wanted to spare Yoh the misery.

"Hands off," was the only reply, and the Brit carefully managed to extract himself from the arms that were, surprisingly enough, not holding him in a death grip as they usually did.

This prompted the Brit to cast him a curious glance, eyes meeting a fairly cool gaze. Hao seemed to be scrutinising him again, which was nothing new. In fact, he'd quite gotten used to it in the recent times he had 'spent' with the other. And he was none too fond of it.

It was a very probing look, and he hated feeling like he was cut wide open and on display for the too-dark eyes to feast on. He shuddered a bit and curled in on himself, turning back to the teakettle.

Curls of steam had begun to wisp through the spout of the pot before either of them made a move. Lyserg tilted his head a bit as shuffling feet sounded behind him again.

Instead of feeling arms again as he was expecting to, the brunette simply maneuvered his way towards the cupboards that hung around the stove area, opening the smooth, waxy wood and extracting two of the mugs from within. The green haired boy said nothing but continued to watch in silence as he rummaged around some more, opening and closing drawers until at last his hand pulled back a dented, grease-spotted box of powdered hot chocolate mix.

"Here." The box bumped against his knuckles after sliding across the smooth countertop, and Lyserg took it with barely a blink.

The sudden, building screech from the teakettle pierced the thick, cold atmosphere in an almost unpleasant way; it broke the silence, at least, and Lyserg seemed to come to with a jolt. He was quick to pluck it from the heat, turn the stove down, and empty the last two remaining packets from the crumpled box.

Hao picked up from where he had left off in his previous staring game, though this time the barest hint of a smirk curled his lips upward. "I know what you're thinking."

"No you don't."

The response was automatic; it was obvious that this particular conversation had happened on far more than one occasion. The dark powder was dumped unceremoniously into first one mug and then the next, heaping amounts of the boiling water added after. Silently, he pulled out the drawer next to him and extracted a spoon, stirring both together. Hao watched with growing amusement as the spoon was tossed (rather violently, if you asked him) into the sink basin.

"Here." Lyserg mimicked the brunette's tone from earlier, wrinkling his nose and handing over one of the cups before stalking past him and into the opposite room.

From there, the entire expanse of the backyard could be seen, along with a few flurries that began to descend when he wasn't paying attention. Absentmindedly, he blew on the surface of his drink and watched uninterestedly as the steam danced in front of his eyes. A small sip was taken and he sighed in distaste; metallic. The kettle probably needed to be replaced soon.

He had no sooner finished the thought than a voice rang out from the kitchen. "This tastes awful, Lyserg! What did you do to it?" A roll of the eyes was said boy's immediate reaction as he plopped down on the sofa, and it took him a minute to realise that Hao couldn't exactly see him. "Nobody said you had to drink it. Stop complaining."

'You bicker like a married couple' came to mind instantly, and a face-palm followed soon after. Damnit all.

"What's eating you?"

Lyserg jumped at the proximity of the voice, startled eyes blinking and looking upwards. It escaped him how the pyro managed to move so quickly and silently, it really did. "Nothing. Just sit down and drink your hot chocolate or throw it our or something. Anything. Whatever." And now he was babbling. Great.

Unfortunately for him, Hao decided to take that as an open invitation and flopped over in the small space next to the Brit. Who, naturally, moved to stand as soon as the other was down, but found himself victim of the infamous one-armed restraint.

"You know, I think I have an idea." Silence was all that met the pyro and his comment, though he did recieve an untrusting sideways glance. "I think I know just what would make this taste better."

Kiss-stealing was Hao's second favourite game, aside from the staring-at-you-and-making-you-feel-awkward game. It came as no surprise at all when a kiss followed that comment.

What did come as a surprise was the fact that, almost instinctually, he had returned the kiss. And, though he would never admit it to himself, it felt...just the same as Yoh.

Better, even. There was a certain warmth there, a certain spark, that had been long-lost whenever he and Yoh shared a kiss. Maybe they had never been there to begin with.

This jolted him out of everything almost painfully, the full mug being tilted in his quick escape backwards and sloshing over the side, onto his hand. He didn't notice. Not until Hao, staring at him in that same stupid, curious manner, lifted a hand. "You should wash that off."

The bathroom, anywhere really, looked a better place now than where he was. With no more than a curt nod he bolted up from the fabric, spilling more of the hot liquid over himself in the process, and briskly walked to the bathroom.

The still-freezing tap water didn't seem much different from the scorch of the beverage, and all he could do was breath deeply, trying to calm himself. Keeping everything back, stopping the inevitable once again. Anything to not have to admit to himself that he had actually enjoyed that.

He couldn't think of a time when guilt hurt worse.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

And so we have my return from the dead. Continuing my side of the MHnB collab with Mankinfan, which I promise I won't let idle for so long again. \o; Sorry for the generic rusty writing and the lack of...character variety yeah SORRY d-don't shoot me okay. 


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